000			02813cam a22004458i 4500
001			on1285369690
003			OCoLC
005			20220331100016.0
008			210916t20222022nyua e b 000 0 eng
010			_a 2021044938
040			_aDLC _beng _erda _cDLC _dOCLCF _dOCLCO _dRNL _dHBP _dYDX _dBDX _dTOH _dZGX _dOCO _dQX7 _dOCLCO _dILC _dNFG
019			_a1246145557 _a1285370757
020			_a9780374601621 _q(hardcover)
020			_a0374601623 _q(hardcover)
035			_a(OCoLC)1285369690 _z(OCoLC)1246145557 _z(OCoLC)1285370757
041	1		_aeng _hita
042			_apcc
092			_a411.09 _bF374
049			_aNFGA
100	1		_aFerrara, Silvia, _eauthor.
240	1	0	_aGrande invenzione. _lEnglish
245	1	4	_aThe greatest invention : _ba history of the world in nine mysterious scripts / _cSilvia Ferrara ; translated from the Italian by Todd Portnowitz.
250			_aFirst American edition.
264		1	_aNew York : _bFarrar, Straus and Giroux, _c2022.
264		4	_c©2022
300			_aviii, 289 pages : _billustrations ; _c22 cm.
336			_atext _btxt _2rdacontent
337			_aunmediated _bn _2rdamedia
338			_avolume _bnc _2rdacarrier
504			_aIncludes bibliographical references (pages 285-289).
500			_a"Originally published in Italian in 2019 ... as La grande invenzione ... English translation published in the United States by Farrar, Straus and Giroux First American edition 2022" -- verso.
505	0		_aBehind the scenes. Stories ; Nature -- Undeciphered scripts. Islands. Crete ; Cyprus ; Easter Island -- Invented scripts. Cities ; Before the Pharaohs ; Between two rivers ; Chinese turtles ; Across the ocean ; End of story -- Experiments. Tradition ; Solitary inventors ; Isolated branches ; Social inventors -- Discoveries. Where to begin ; How to decipher -- The great vision. First ; Afterward ; Tomorrow ; Postscriptum.
520			_a"Silvia Ferrara leads a code cracking mission to decipher the hidden truths and histories of our greatest invention-the art of writing"-- _cProvided by publisher.
520			_aFerrara takes a profound look at how-- and how many times-- human beings have managed to produce the miracle of written language around the world. Readers will examine the enigmas of undeciphered scripts; study the turtle shells and ox scapulae that bear the earliest Chinese inscriptions, and venture to the cutting edge as high-powered laser scanners bring tears to an engineer's eyes. Ferrara chronicles a journey filled with past flashes of brilliance, present-day scientific research, and a faint glimpse of writing's future. -- adapted from jacket
650		0	_aWriting _xHistory. _9227522
650		0	_aInscriptions _xHistory.
650		0	_aExtinct languages.
700	1		_aPortnowitz, Todd, _d1986- _etranslator.
994			_aC0 _bNFG
999			_c345079 _d345079